Stop the presses! Astros win on the road, streak ends short of record

SAN DIEGO — The Astros did set a franchise record for futility. They did lose 14 consecutive road games.

That was the Astros of 1996-97, who started the streak at the end of one season and ended it after the start of another.

That also was the Astros of Biggio and Bagwell and the other B’s. In 1997, they brought in a new manager, Larry Dierker, and a couple of A’s, Brad Ausmus and Bobby Abreu and went on to win their division.

So I guess it wouldn’t have been too discouraging for the current Astros to have gone into the record books Monday night at Petco Park by losing their 14th consecutive road game. On the other hand, they seemed ecstatic, maybe even surprised, to end the streak one game short by beating the San Diego Padres, 2-0.

Six exclamation points for a victory over a team almost as hapless as they are. The Astros’ win was their 34th of the season. The Padres have won 36. And guess who was the most recent team the Astros had shut out before Monday night. Yes, the Padres.

Still, a win is a win is a win. The Astros didn’t seem particularly excited about avoiding the franchise record because so many of them were in the first grade or kindergarten when it was set.

“I didn’t know anything about it until somebody pointed out it was in the paper,” manager Brad Mills said.

“It doesn’t help us out to think about something like that. You don’t want that to become a monkey.”

Or a gorilla.

“You try not to bring up negative things,” said Chris Johnson, who made a couple of outstanding plays at third base.

When I told him about the players who set the franchise record, he said, “When you talk about that team, it makes you feel a little better. There were a couple of Hall of Famers on that team.”

There may be a couple of Hall of Famers on this team. There may be a couple of guys or more who are headed for Oklahoma City.

This game didn’t mean anything to anybody else. But it meant something to them. They won!!!!!!